ONTARIO COUNTY

This county
was formed from Montgomery, Jan 27, 1789. It was named from Lake
Ontario, which originally formed its
N. boundary. Steuben co. was taken off in 1796, Genesee in
1802, parts of Monroe and Livingston in 1821, and Yates and a
part of Wayne in 1823. A strip was
annexed from Montgomery co., w. of Seneca Lake, Feb.16, 1791, and a
small tract in the fork of Crooked Lake, from Steuben, Feb. 25, 1814.
It is centrally distant 180. mi. from Albany, and contains an area of
640. sq. mi. It lies upon the extreme
N. declivities of the central Alleghany Mt. Range, and has a northerly
inclination, the summits of the s. hills being elevated about 1000
feet above the general level of the N. portions of the co. The s.
portion, lying w. of Canandaigua Lake, is a hilly and broken region,
divided into ridges with steep declivities and summits
1,500 to 1,700 feet above tide. The ridges all have a general
n. and s. direction, declining toward the n., and terminating in a
beautifully rolling region, which embraces all of the co. e. of
Canandaigua Lake, and that portion lying w. of the lake and n. of the
n. line
of Bristol. The ridges in this section gradually rise to a
height of 20 to 250 feet above the valleys, and give to the land
sufficient inclination for thorough drainage. A terrace with
declivities
100 to 250 feet high , descending toward the n., extends through the
n. portions of East and West Bloomfield and the s. part of Victor, at
right angles to the general range of the ridges. The extreme
n. parts of the co. are occupied by drift ridges similar to those in
Wayne and Seneca cos.